Amazon launches music streaming service in India

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc launched its music-streaming service in India on Wednesday, its latest offering to drive customers to shop more on its flagship e-commerce platform.

A banner displaying the Amazon Prime Music logo is seen in Mumbai, India, February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

Amazon Prime Music will be available at no extra cost to members of Prime, the world’s largest online retailer’s customer loyalty plan that costs an annual 999 rupees ($15.30) and offers faster deliveries, access to early deals and a subscription to its video streaming service.

“Our entire music organisation - Seattle, San Francisco, Bangalore, Mumbai - we have all spent a lot of time, invested our time personally and our engineering resources in India, it’s a big priority for us,” Sean McMullan, Director International Expansion at Amazon Music, told reporters.

The music service will compete, among others, with Tencent-backed local rival Gaana, which is raising $115 million in new funding, and Apple Inc’s music service.

Sean McMullan, Director International Expansion at Amazon Music speaks during a round table conference in Mumbai, India, February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

Amazon sees big growth potential in India and had committed to investing $5 billion in the country. reut.rs/2HT7QXq

The Seattle, Washington-headquartered company is engaged in a high-stakes battle with home-grown Flipkart for a bigger piece of India’s fledgling online retail market that Morgan Stanley expects to grow to be worth $200 billion in a decade.